Chapter 4: The True Young Master Is Confused: I'm the Biological Son, Why Are You All Crying?
Jinghai City First People's Hospital, VIP Special Care Ward.
The pungent smell of disinfectant mixed with the expensive scent of lilies made one feel a bit dizzy. Lin Tian lay on the hospital bed, his right leg encased in a thick plaster cast and hoisted high, looking like a ridiculous white totem pole.
By now, he had lost all the bravado he showed earlier in the villa. He was curled up under the blanket, trembling, tears falling like broken strings of pearls.
It hurt, a piercing, heart-wrenching pain.
But more unbearable than the pain in his leg was the grievance and fear crushing his heart.
"Mom... am I really your biological son?"
Lin Tian, his voice choked with sobs, clutched Wang Xue's hand desperately, his eyes filled with existential doubt. "Eldest Sister... did Eldest Sister really want to kill me? That kick... she really meant to finish me off!"
He couldn't understand it.
This wasn't how the script was supposed to go!
He was the True Young Master, lost for eighteen years, returning with the legendary S-rank Talent. His parents should dote on him, his Sisters should cherish him, afraid he might melt in their palms. That impostor Lin Ji, who had taken his place, should be kicked out like a dog, scorned and reviled by everyone.
But reality had given him a resounding slap in the face—or rather, a kick aimed to end his lineage.
"Don't talk nonsense! Of course you're my flesh and blood!"
Wang Xue's heart ached terribly seeing her son's pale face. She turned her head and roared at the figure standing by the window. "Lin Qingge! Look at what you've done! Xiao Tian just came home today, and you broke his leg! Is this your attitude as the eldest sister?!"
By the window, Lin Qingge stood with her back to everyone.
She was still smoking.
As a military commander, smoking should be prohibited in a place like a hospital, but no one dared to stop her. Wreathed in smoke, her figure seemed somewhat desolate, yet exuded a dangerous aura, as if she might explode at any moment.
"Attitude?"
Lin Qingge flicked her cigarette ash, her voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping across a tabletop. "If I hadn't controlled my strength, he'd be dead already. Do you think combat stress reactions on the battlefield are child's play?"
She turned around. Her bloodshot eyes held no trace of guilt, only a chilling indifference.
"Besides, the only reason I didn't throw him out the window was out of consideration for this so-called 'blood relation.'"
"You—! You're utterly unreasonable!"
Lin Zhenghai trembled with rage, his finger shaking as he pointed at Lin Qingge. "He's your own brother! Even if his method of trying to treat you was wrong, it came from a good heart! How can you compare him to that... that ungrateful wretch?!"
Hearing the words "ungrateful wretch," Lin Qingge's eyes instantly turned icy.
She threw her cigarette butt on the floor and crushed it viciously with her military boot.
"Ungrateful wretch?"
She walked step by step to the bedside. The terrifying pressure made Lin Tian instantly stop crying. Like a chicken with its neck wrung, he burrowed into Wang Xue's arms in terror.
"Lin Zhenghai, Wang Xue, have you lived in comfort for so long that your brains have atrophied?"
Lin Qingge looked down at the family of three, a mocking curl at the corner of her lips. "Who do you think is responsible for the Lin family being where it is today? Your pathetic business skills, Lin Zhenghai? Or your hypocritical socializing in the socialite circles, Wang Xue?"
"It's us fighting desperately outside! It's us nine Sisters not having gone mad or died yet!"
She pointed to her own head, where a throbbing pain pulsed, as if it might explode at any moment. "Every time an S-rank ability user exerts their power, they drain their sanity. If it weren't for Lin Ji's day and night soothing over these past eighteen years, we would have long turned into mindless killing monsters and torn this family to ruins!"
"Lin Ji isn't some useless adopted son. He is the Lin family's'safety pin.'"
Lin Qingge's voice suddenly rose sharply, startling Wang Xue into a tremble. "Now, you've personally pulled out and thrown away that safety pin, replacing it with a piece of trash that only shines but is actually utterly useless! You're not just driving away an adopted son; you're digging your own graves!"
A deathly silence fell over the ward.
Lin Tian's face was ashen. His lips moved as if to retort, but he found he couldn't make a sound.
So... that Lin Ji was that important?
No! Impossible!
This must be some kind of bewitchment or drug that impostor used on Eldest Sister! He himself possessed an S-rank light-type talent. The books all said light-type was the strongest support. How could he possibly be inferior to an ordinary person?!
"Enough. I can't be bothered to waste more words on you."
Lin Qingge didn't even glance at Lin Tian again, as if he were merely an eyesore of garbage. She turned, picked up the military greatcoat hanging on the back of a chair, and draped it over her shoulders with a sharp, wind-sweeping motion.
"I'm going to find him and bring him back. Before I return, you'd better not let me see this waste at home. Otherwise, I can't guarantee I won't wring his neck next time."
With that, she strode purposefully and pulled open the door.
"Qingge! Where are you going? It's so late..." Lin Zhenghai tried to stop her.
"Back to the military headquarters. To access satellite surveillance. To lock down the city."
Lin Qingge didn't look back, leaving only an icy warning. "If we can't find Lin Ji, you might as well order your coffins in advance. Oh, and remind Third Sister and Fourth Sister for me. If they don't want to die, they'd better get back here immediately to help search!"
Bang!
The door slammed shut heavily, making the wall clock tilt sideways.
The ward fell into an eerie quiet once more.
It took a long while before Wang Xue snapped out of it. Hugging Lin Tian, she cried, "What a calamity... What is all this! My fate is so bitter, to have such a disobedient daughter..."
Leaning against the headboard, Lin Tian listened to his mother's lament. The fear in his eyes gradually receded, replaced by a thick, venomous resentment.
Lin Ji... It was always Lin Ji!
In this family, whenever that name was mentioned, Eldest Sister went crazy.
Why?
He was clearly the young master with the Lin family blood flowing in his veins. He clearly possessed the S-rank Talent envied by the world! That Lin Ji was just an ordinary person with no abilities. What right did he have to lord it over him?!
"Mom, don't cry."
Lin Tian took a deep breath and raised his hand, staring at the faint halo of light in his palm. His eyes were frighteningly sinister. "Eldest Sister is just temporarily blinded. That Lin Ji must have used some dark art or drugs to control the Sisters... As long as I train my talent well, as long as I can also soothe the Sisters' minds, they'll eventually realize who the true treasure is."
"Yes! Yes! Xiao Tian, you are the best!" Wang Xue seemed to have grasped a lifeline, hurriedly wiping her tears. "You are S-rank! What can that waste compare to you? Once you recover, we'll hire the best tutors. You will definitely surpass that bastard!"
"I will."
Lin Tian clenched his fist, his nails digging into his palm. "Lin Ji, just you wait. Since you've already been driven out, everything that belongs to me, I will take back, bit by bit!"
...
Elsewhere, in the urban village.
The rain had finally lightened somewhat, but the air remained damp and bitingly cold.
Lin Ji dragged a simple suitcase, stepping through the muddy water on the ground as he entered a dim, narrow alley.
This was Jinghai City's famous "slum," a place teeming with all sorts. But precisely because of that, one could rent a place without needing an ID. It was the best hiding spot for those who didn't want to be tracked.
He stopped in front of a dilapidated tube-shaped building plastered with small ads for "Heavy Reward for Fertility" and "Unclog Drains."
"Here we are. This is the smell of freedom."
Looking at the rickety, crumbling building before him, Lin Ji didn't show any disdain. Instead, he took a deep breath of the air, heavy with mold and cooking fumes.
He took out his phone and glanced at the rental listing.
"Room 404. One bedroom, one living room. Monthly rent: three hundred. Utilities extra."
In Jinghai City, where land was worth its weight in gold, this price was practically giving it away. The landlord had been evasive on the phone, saying the neighbor next door was a bit "special" and most people didn't stay long. But he didn't care.
As long as it was cheap.
Lin Ji put away his phone and carried his suitcase up the stairs, which reeked of urine.
Just as he reached the fourth floor, a strange fragrance wafted into his nostrils. It wasn't ordinary perfume. It was more like the scent of an overripe peach—sweet, cloying, alluring, yet carrying a hint of danger that made one's heart race.
"This smell..."
Lin Ji frowned. The God-Tier Purification Physique within him automatically activated, instantly shielding him from the scent that tried to tease his nerves.
He walked to the door of 404. Just as he was about to take out the key, the door of the neighboring room, 403, suddenly creaked open.
A leg, so white it was almost dazzling, stepped out first.
Following it, a woman leaning against the doorframe appeared. She wore a loose silk robe, her long hair cascading over her shoulders, her eyes hazy and seductive. Her face was bewitchingly beautiful, especially those amethyst-red eyes, which were fixed on Lin Ji like a wolf that had starved for three days spotting a piece of fresh meat.
"New neighbor?"
The woman's voice was lazy and husky, carrying a hint of barely suppressed panting. "Handsome, living alone so late at night... aren't you scared?"